WEF Awards and Recognitions

WEF is proud to present a variety of awards recognizing hard work in protecting one of the world's most valuable resources. Award recipients are individuals and organizations that contribute to the sustainability of water resources and make a profound impact on the future of the world’s water through involvement with water professionals and education.

Beer for Us, Water For Everyone - PNCWA Committee Supporting Water For People

To celebrate World Water Day 2018 the PNCWA Water For People Committee is teaming up with Optimism Brewing in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle to support Water For People. Optimism Brewing will be offering 'virtual pints' all day, donations of which will go to Water For People's mission of providing drinking water and sanitation services to everyone forever.

The S&YP Committee is recruiting judges for the 2018 Student Design Competition! Three judges will be selected from the pool by March 31, 2018. The SDC Subcommittee will select judges that represent the diverse nature of our industry. Commitments include the review and scoring of a design notebook and team presentation feedback.

Judges must be WEF-PNCWA members

No travel will be required.

The presentation will utilize an interactive web based platform and will be held on April 30, 2018

Participation as a judge will take approximately 10-15 hours of your time.

Three judges will be selected from the pool by March 31, 2018

We ask you to consider lending your expertise to this competition that provides real world experience for emerging industry professionals. Submit your name to volunteer

The event will educate about current regulatory requirements and methods for analyzing problems and finding solutions. The event features a workshop, opening general session, exhibits, and 13 technical sessions. Topics covered in the conference’s technical program include

It's Time for the 2018 Student Design Competition - Submit intent to enter by Feb 19

ThePNCWA Student Design Competitionis intended to promote “real world” design experience for students interested in pursuing an education and/or career in water/wastewater engineering and sciences. This competition tasks teams of student members within PNCWA to design and present a program meeting the requirements of a problem statement that they have worked on together as a team. This competition is intended for both undergraduate and graduate students, typically completing a capstone project.

Member Services Co-Chair Brittany Burch—Open Water Swim Raises Money for Clean Water in Haiti.

In poorer countries, the need for clean water is very much at the forefront of their daily survival, especially if their natural disasters rap sheet looks like this! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_natural_disasters_in_Haiti. It's hard to imagine a water-borne disease killing 3,000 people anywhere today, but that happened just 7 years ago in Haiti.

Cliff Church, who holds Grade II Wastewater Operator and Grade I Water Operator licenses, received the 2016 Oregon Wastewater Operator of the Year Award from the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association. The award announcement calls Church “an operator who exhibits a commitment to learn safe and efficient plant operations. … He is willing to understand the operations of each plant and has shown a mechanical ability by repairing, maintaining and trouble- shooting equipment.”

Church, a reclaim water technician, was nominated by Andrew Albee, former Myrtle Creek Public Works director and now superintendent of the clean-water plant in Roseburg. “Right from the start,” he says, “Cliff struck me as a real square guy who cared, was really interested in his work, and didn’t treat wastewater as a just a job.” Continue

The landscape that has traditionally driven clean water utilities is changing rapidly. Today’s utility managers are no longer just treating and discharging wastewater. They are looking for ways to optimize their efficiency, recover valuable resources, and enhance their contribution to the overall health of watersheds and their communities.

As “anchor institutions” in their communities, these Utilities of the Future employ innovative approaches not only to meet their own goals, but also to support the financial and social health of the communities they serve. Please join NACWA, WEF, U.S. EPA, WateReuse, and WE&RF for this webinar describing how leading clean water utilities are using innovative assistance programs to support low-income ratepayers and small water systems serving surrounding communities, enhancing the overall economic and social well-being of the entire area.

WEF invites training professionals to become an approved trainer in the National Green Infrastructure Certification Program (NGICP). Help meet the certification training needs of NGICP partners and training sites, or develop your own licensed, training program, through this Train-the-Trainer opportunity.

The NGICP Trainer course will be held at the University of the District of Columbia on January 17-19, 2018. To register and get more information, go to: http://ngicp.org/program/for-trainers/.

If you requested CEUs or PDHs from PNCWA2017, the certificates have been mailed. Additionally, WA ECY and OR DEQ have been provided lists of individuals receiving CEUs and the number of CEUs awarded. After Jan 1, If you still need a PDF of your certificate, please email help@pncwa.org

As you plan for your end of the year charitable giving please consider the Pacific Northwest Clean Water Association’s Scholarship Fund. PNCWA is investing in the future of our industry by providing scholarships to students and operators that are pursuing a professional career in the water quality field.

It is projected, by the EPA, that 31 to 37 percent of the water and wastewater professionals will be retiring in the next 10 years. All of us in this industry need to do our part to ensure that there is a pool of qualified water professionals to meet the current and future needs of our communities.

Aging infrastructure, strict regulatory requirements, and continued economic pressures have put unprecedented stress on local governments and agencies that provide essential water services, but you can help! The Water Advocates program will create a network of water professionals in every state and community, in every congressional district, to get the word out about the value of water and steps needed to protect it. As part of the network, you’ll receive the training and information needed to become an effective Water Advocate for clean and safe water. It’s a great opportunity to help in specific ways, including letters to elected officials and newspaper editors, presentations to business and community organizations, and visits to legislative offices.

Water needs YOUR voice. Click here to view the flyer. To sign up, log onto the WEFCOM community titled "Water Advocates" and join the community. You can also submit your information to wateradvocates@wef.org. Please include your name, title, organization, address, e-mail, and telephone number. After you sign up, you will be in the Water Advocates program and receive important announcments about actions you can take to help.

The 2017 PNCWA Conference, held this year in Vancouver, Washington, was one of our best yet. Revisit the friends, networking, and training by browsing our photo album on Flickr. While we are still in the process of uploading conference proceedings, we have many already online, which you can access here. Here are some more highlights!

Record TurnoutThis year, the PNCWA conference had a record turnout. Over 900 attendees—a mix municipality-agency works, operators, consultants, manufacturers, regulators, researchers, and students—came to Vancouver, Washington, to participate in 128 technical presentations and five preconference workshops. The outstanding mix of attendees coupled with the fantastic programming—the backbone of our conference—made it one of our most successful gatherings. Plus, we had over 200 first-time attendees. Thanks to Conference Chair Lara Kammereck and Technical Program Chair Corinne DeLeon for their work.

Please take our 2017 PNCWA Membership Survey. We need your feedback. The survey takes less than 2 minutes and will provide the member services committee with valuable information to inform our membership strategic plan!

There are a lot of reasons to be excited about the 2017 PNCWA Conference, but the technical program is the heart and soul of the annual event. This year, conference organizers received a record 275 abstracts! From the submissions, organizers take care in creating a diverse program that speaks to all levels of PNCWA, from every region and from every aspect of the water industry. Conference organizers have worked hard to make sure that everyone—from engineers to operators to non-technical workers—will be able to fill their schedules with exciting educational opportunities. Special thanks to Technical Program Chair Corinne DeLeon of Seattle Public Utilities and the volunteer Technical Program Committee.

SEATTLE - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that it is awarding $14.6 million to Idaho’s clean water and drinking water revolving funds to help finance improvements to water projects that are essential to protecting public health and the environment. The funds will be used to finance water quality protection and drinking water projects that will last far into the future.

We’re less than a week away from the 2017 PNCWA Conference! We look forward to the conference every year, but this October we’re especially excited. Conference Chair Lara Kammereck and Technical Program Chair Corinne DeLeon have outdone themselves and have provided an inclusive program with a diverse range of events, activities, and tracks. Here are five reasons why this year’s conference is better than ever.

1. Tons of Networking Events

The annual conference is about learning new skills, celebrating each other’s hard work, and planning for the future. But it’s also one of the only times when folks from all over the Pacific Northwest are all in one place. This year, there’s something for everyone with networking events.